ACTION RESEARCH
Action
Research in Education
Action research is a type of applied research and is also
known by many other names, including participatory research,
collaborative inquiry, emancipator research, action learning, and contextual
action research, but all are variations on a common theme. i.e. action research
is a
“ Research in Action ” : a
group of people identify a problem, then
do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not
satisfied, try again.
Kurt
Lewin, developed the idea of action
research. Kemmis and
Carr put the definition of
action research in education as “action research is a form of self-reflective
inquiry that can be utilized by teachers in order to improve the rationality
and justice of (1) their own practices,
(2) their understanding of these
practices and (3) the situations in which these practices are carried out.
Difference
between Fundamental research and Action research
Action
Research in a Research Paradigm
Positivist
Paradigm : Logical Positivism is the main
research paradigm in action
research . This paradigm is based on
the principle of objective
reality, knowledge of which is only gained from sense data that can be directly
experienced and verified between independent observers
Interpretive
Paradigm : Interpretive Paradigm is based on
the relationship between socially-engendered concept formation and the
language. Containing such
qualitative methodological approaches as phenomenology, ethnography, and
hermeneutics, it is characterized by a belief in a socially constructed,
subjectively-based reality, one that is influenced by culture and history
Paradigm
of Praxis : It deals with the disciplines and
activities predominant in the ethical and political lives of people.
Action
Research in Education
The Action research is suitable for any person or any group or
organization who wishes to improve his
performance; As a matter of fact, action research is widely used in
education, especially by the teachers’ who use it to improve their teaching. Action
research well matches with education and benefits both teachers and a student
in their teaching and learning since it meets the need of education and enables
continuity in research.
Action research is used in the
real situations , since its primary focus is on solving real
problems. It can, however, be used by
social scientists for preliminary
research or pilot research,
especially when the situation is too ambiguous to frame a precise research
question. Mostly, though, in accordance
with its principles, it is chosen when circumstances require flexibility, the
involvement of the people in the research, or change must take place quickly or
holistically.
Burns acknowledges
that action research as an
influential tool for school and classroom investigation. He claims that the
purposes of action research in education fall broadly into categories
that reflect action research as:
●
As a means of remedying problems
in a specific situations or somewhat improving a
given set of circumstances.
●
As
a means of in-service training
by equipping the teachers with new skills and methods, sharpening analytical
powers and heightening self-awareness.
●
As
a means of injecting additional
or innovative approaches to teaching and learning into an ongoing system which
normally inhibits innovation and change.
●
As a
means of improving the normally poor communications between the
practising teachers and the academic researchers and of remedying the failure
of traditional research to give clear prescriptions.
●
As
a means of providing a
preferable alternative to the more subjective, impressionistic approach to
problem-solving in the classroom.
According
to Hopkins a basis for the selection of a classroom research by a
teachers is based on the following criteria:
i) The teachers primary role is to teach and any
research project must not interfere with or disrupt this commitment;
ii) The methods
of data collection should not be too demanding on the teacher’s time;
iii) The methodology used must be reliable enough to
allow the teachers to formulate hypotheses confidently
and develop strategies applicable to the classroom situation;
iv) The teacher should be committed to research
problem under study;
v) Teachers must
follow the ethical procedures when carrying out
research;
vi) Classroom research where possible should be
adopt a perspective where all members of a school community build and
share a common vision.
In teaching as research, teachers , researchers have adopted term “action
research” to refer to their particular approach to classroom research. So far,
action research has proved its suitability to education and become more important in education organizations.
Areas
of action research in education
Teaching
practices: This field pertains to the
actual class teaching. The problems are related with instructional
technology i.e. method, teaching aids, homework and other resources.
Behavioural
Problems: The ultimate aim of education is to bring desirable behavioural
changes in the students. Sometimes, some students can start doing some abnormal
behaviour. The problems related to this
aspect fall under this field
Co-Curricular
Activities:
co-curricular activities are
the integral part of curriculum.
The problem confronted is the inadequate application of them in school s .
Administration
and organization: Healthy environment in the school
is a special need of the day. That is why the solution relates to the problems
in this areas are very important.
Evaluation: Evaluation is an important part of the teaching-learning
process. Validity and reliability of
evaluation is the need of
the day. The problems
pertaining to testing
process falls under this area.
Principles
/ Components of Action Research
Schuler and Borgia describe components of action research as the
“Five C’s”:
Commitment: Collaboration: Concern: Consideration:. Change:
Winter in
1989 provided a
comprehensive overview of six
key principles.
1)
Reflexive critique
Truth in a social setting is relative to the tellers . The principle of reflective critique ensures
that people reflect on issues and
processes and make explicit the interpretations, biases, assumptions and
concerns upon which judgments are made.
In this way, practical accounts can give rise to the theoretical considerations.
2)
Dialectical critique
Reality, particularly the
social reality, is consensually validated, which is to say it is shared
through language. Phenomena are
conceptualized in dialogue and therefore a dialectical critique is required
to understand the set of relationships both between the phenomenon and its
context, and between the elements constituting the phenomenon. .
3)
Collaborative Resource
Participants in an action research project are
co-researchers. The principle of
collaborative resources
presupposes that each
person’s ideas are equally
significant as potential resources for creating
interpretive categories of
analysis, negotiated among the participants. It strives to avoid the skewing of
credibility stemming from the prior status of
the idea-holder
4) Risk
The change in
process potentially threatens all previously established ways of doing
things, thus creating psychic fears among the practitioners. One of the more prominent fears comes from
the risk to ego stemming from open discussion of one’s interpretations, judgments
and ideas,. Initiators of the action research will use this principle to
allay others’ fears and invite participation by pointing out that they, too,
will be subject to the same process, and that whatever will
be the outcome, learning will
take place.
5)
Plural Structure
The nature of action research embodies a multiplicity of views,
commentaries and critiques, leading to multiple possible actions and
interpretations
6)
Theory, Practice, Transformation
For the action researchers,
theory informs practice, practice refines theory, in a continuous
transformation.
Types
of Action Research
1.
Traditional Action Research
2.
Contextual Action Research (Action
Learning)
3.
Radical Action Research
4.
Educational Action Research
Characteristics
of Action Research
Many scholars have attempted to characterize the
action research in terms of a school-based research.
McDonough
proposes four characteristics of action research which
are as follows:
●
It is participant-driven and
reflective;
●
It is collaborative;
●
It leads to change and
improvement of practice not just knowledge in itself; and
●
It is context-specific. Action
research is implemented in a classroom by a particular teacher or group of
teachers who work together to pursue a change or improvement in their teaching
and learning issues.
Creswell
proposes six key characteristics of action research as follows :
●
A practical focus;
●
The educator-researcher’s own
practices;
●
Collaboration;
●
A dynamic process;
●
A plan of action and; and
●
Sharing research.
Creswell asserts that
understanding the above
characteristics will help teachers better design their own study to read,
evaluate and use an action research study published in literature.
The
Action Research Process
Considering the
action research as an activity research, Nunan develops seven steps in
the action research cycle :
Step
1: Initiation – A that problem triggers the idea of action research
Step
2: Preliminary investigation –
Baseline data are collected to
help to understand the nature of the
problem.
Step
3: Hypotheses – At this step
a hypothesis is formulated after
reviewing the initial data.
Step
4: Intervention – Here a
number of strategies are devised and applied.
Step
5: Evaluation – At this step
an assessment is carried out to evaluate the intervention.
Some steps may be repeated.
Step
6: Dissemination – At
this step a
report of the
research is published. Ideas emerged from the research
are shared.
Step
7: Follow-up –At this step
alternative solutions for the problem are continually investigated.
In contrast, Creswell
looks at the
procedure of action research as detail process with 8 steps as:
Step 1: Determine
whether action research is the
best design to use;
Step 2: Identify a problem to study;
Step 3: Locate resources that
helps to address the problem;
Step 4: Identify information to be needed;
Step 5: Implement the data collection;
Step 6: Analyze the data;
Step 7: Develop a plan for action; and
Step 8: Implement the plan and reflect In
brief, these above processes of
the action research are different
from one another since they are either basic, simple or elaborate models
Advantages
of Action Research in Education
1.
These include reflection on
education practice, identification of strategies for improvement and
acquisition of research skills. Collaborative action research has the
additional benefit of engaging teachers and
the principals in joint work to
improve education outcomes.
2.
Teachers investigate their own
practice in new ways, looking deeper in what they and their students actually
do and fail to do.
3.
Teachers develop a deeper
understanding of students, the teacher learning process and their role in the
education of both teachers and students.
4.
Teachers are viewed as equal
partners in deciding what works best and what needs improvement in their
classroom or classrooms. In most of the cases, solutions for identified problems are
arrived cooperatively among teachers.
5.
Teacher reflection can be
conducted individually or in a school-based team composed of students, teachers
and administrators.
the importance of action research in
education is to
●
Encourages change in schools
●
Fosters a democratic approach to
education
●
Empowers individuals through
collaboration on projects
●
Positions teachers and other
educators as learners who seek to narrow the gap between practice and their
vision education
●
Encourages educators to reflect on
their practice
●
Promotes a process of testing new
ideas.
Limitations
of Action Research
1.
Theoretically, action research can
be either descriptive or experimental. Most
of the action research studies use descriptive
research designs but attempt to draw conclusions about the effects of an action
on some outcome.
2.
Conclusions about cause and effect
are reliable, only when they are based on solid experimental research designs.
3.
Most of
the action research is restricted
to one classroom or school, which means that the results cannot be generalized
to other classrooms or schools. Thus,
the action research studies often
lack both internal and external validity.
4.
Action research is carried
out by individuals who are interested
parties in the research. T his fact has
led to criticisms of the validity of the research process, with accusations of
inevitable researcher bias in data gathering and analysis.
Action
researchers draw attention to the notion of commitment and
the commitment cannot be measured
easily and the process will continue to be criticised because of this
